“Of the 9,000 km wastewater network 6,800 km is in place,” Masoud Reza Sameni was quoted as saying by the Energy Ministry news portal.
Pipe-laying operations have been undertaken in most districts of the rapidly expanding capital to connect households, businesses and industrial sectors to the wastewater network, he noted.
When the infrastructure is up and running, it will help add 250 million cubic meters of (recycled) water to Tehran's water reserves per annum, and decrease the water stress in the capital, he said.
“Eastern, southern and central parts of the city are linked to the sewage network, but most parts of western and northern Tehran are yet to be connected.”
Water consumption in Tehran Province jumped to 1.2 billion cubic meters in the last water year that ended in Sept., 2020.
Tehran received 462 millimeters of rainfall in the period (Sept 22, 2019 to Sept. 22, 2020), which was the highest in the past 50 years. However, due to low snowfall, water flow into five dams around the province (Amirkabir, Taleqan, Latian, Lar and Mamlou) fell by 15%. The dams provide 70% of Tehran’s water.
Dams now hold 700 million cubic meters of water -- down 102 mcm compared to this time last year. According to Mohammadreza Bakhtiari, Tehran Province Water and Wastewater Company managing director, the firm is struggling to wrap up water infrastructure projects because of cumbersome regulations, the bloated bureaucracy and lack of effective cooperation from state bodies like the Department of Environment and the municipality.
Giving an example, he said the DOE does not allow TRWC increase water transfer from Lar Dam in the east of the capital because the dam is a habitat for red spot trouts, “an issue that should be resolved if they (DoE) cooperate”.
Wastewater Plant
Regarding wastewater treatment plants in Tehran, Bakhtiari noted “We are working on the Firouz Bahram Wastewater Treatment Plant in the west, which is the second largest in the country after the South Wastewater Treatment Plant” in the ancient city of Rey.
Firouz Bahram plant is due to come online by mid-2021 and will be used by 2.8 million people. “Completing the Tehran sewage network and treatment plants requires $1 billion,” he was quoted as saying.
There are six wastewater treatment plants in Tehran that treat 246 million cubic meters of wastewater per annum. A total of 220 wastewater treatment plants operate across Iran and total treatment capacity has reached 11 million cubic meters per day.
An additional 32 plants are in different stages of construction and should come on stream by 2022. Over 7.5 billion cubic meters of usable water is produced a year of which 4.3 bcm is wasted. Nonetheless, less than 25% of wastewater is recycled – a situation that demands focus and responsibility from those in charge of water affairs.